Posts Tagged “employment”

Employment on the Central Coast is growing at the fastest rate of any regional area in Australia, according to the member for Terrigal, Mr Adam Crouch.

“Of all the regional areas, the Central Coast has the highest rate of jobs growth, at 8.8 per cent for the year to August 2016,” Mr Crouch said. That equals over 14,000 new jobs created in the 12 months, whereas the average jobs growth across regional NSW for the same period was just 3.6 per cent. “The next nearest region was the greater Hunter, with 13,400 new jobs or 4.6 per cent,” Mr Crouch said. He said he believed record NSW Government spending on health and infrastructure had resulted in the state having the strongest economy in the country, and that strength was fl owing on to strong job creation in the region.

The Coast’s strongest economic sectors in terms of jobs growth, according to Mr Crouch, were health, manufacturing and retail trade. He said he believed the Coast was also attracting innovative business owners who were able to utilise their innovation to create job opportunities. The Member for Terrigal also believes the Central Coast is becoming the “destination of choice” for home buyers and business owners. North Avoca, for example, has just been identified as one of the most popular property markets in the state. “This is another brilliant result for the Central Coast, which is rapidly becoming the destination of choice and absolutely fi ts in with the ‘#This is the Life’ campaign from Central Coast Council,” Mr Crouch said. “Everybody on the Central Coast knows how lucky we are to live in this beautiful region, and others are now realising it too,” Mr Crouch said.

Employer demand for more staff is gaining momentum, with the number of job advertisements hitting a four-year high.

Job ads on the internet and in newspapers spiked by 2.4 per cent in May, after stalling for six months.

And for the year to May, job ads were up 9.1 per cent – the biggest rise in eight months, figures from ANZ show.

ANZ head of Australian economics Felicity Emmett says the economy is chugging along nicely and the transition to non-mining activity is gaining traction.

“The rise in job ads is consistent with the strength in business conditions, which point to ongoing solid growth in the economy,” she said.

Ms Emmett said the strong first quarter national GDP report, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week, shows that the housing and services industries are doing the heavy lifting as the mining boom fades.

“These sectors are also clearly helping to support jobs growth,” she said.

Gross domestic product rose 1.1 per cent in the March quarter and 3.1 per cent through the year, in each case the fastest for at least three years.

AN EXTRA 28,100 people found work on the Central Coast in the 12 months to February, increasing the employment rate by almost 20 per cent.

Official data showed more than 58,600 jobs were created in regional NSW over the past year, and the Coast was one of the star performers­.

Despite employment falling by more than 8000, or 5.4 per cent, on the Coast over the 12 months to February 2015, NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian announced employment growth in the region had increased by 19.7 per cent over the 12 months to February this year.

“NSW is the nation’s economic powerhouse and I am proud that so much of that strength is coming from regional NSW,” she said.

“It is extremely encouraging that regions outside Sydney have been responsible for more than 40 per cent of the new jobs over the past year.”

Terrigal state Liberal MP Adam Crouch said growth in the Coast’s three biggest employers – construction, retail and the health and social care sector – had contributed to the good employment news.

“Our biggest employers on the Coast have all seen growth,” Mr Crouch said.

“This is a direct result of having a strong economy in NSW.”

Central Coast Business Chamber regional manager Daniel Farmer said the most recent business conditions survey supported job growth in the region with Coast businesses looking to create employment in the coming year, revenues were strong and consumer confidence was back in the market.

“It is encouraging to see employment grow and business confidence increase,” Mr Farmer said.